So, You Want to be an Imagineer Season 15: Uniting Universal (Official Hub Thread)

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With @RMichael21's departure from hosting The Amazing Race, that leaves a slot open for the June-August run. Season 14 of So, You Want to be an Imagineer ended in spectacular fashion with Basketbuddy scoring the coveted title of the game's first two time winner against Snoopy in a photo-finish 4/3 vote. That being said, I feel like some of the merge rounds of season 14 suffered due to the hectic school schedules many of the contestants were facing. This is why I've decided to so quickly move ahead into a season 15. I want to have as active a season as possible, and a cast that's filled with new faces.

As you might already know, the big twist this season is that each and every project will be themed around a Universal Studios park...namely Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Orlando, or Universal Islands of Adventure. For simplicity's sake, we'll keep it stateside. The goal of the season, as the title suggests, is to "unite" the beloved Universal franchises into the 21st century and built a better vision of what the parks could be. This will entail 12 concepts with themes ranging from Jaws, Back to the Future, Universal Monsters, new lands, park overhauls, special events, and all the in betweens. It's a roster of Universal projects meant to stand toe to toe with the most classic IPs that Disney has to offer, as it should be with the studio's long and treasured history.

BlueDragonFive will be the co-host and will provide his critiques in podcasts that we PROMISE will be much more consistent than season 14's spotty upload schedule. Dragon won't be playing a role in the boards but instead act as an on-screen advisor. I'll be the forum presence as always and the main host. Together Dragon and I will be judging each of the projects and discussing them at length in the weekly videos. We aim to make this the most interactive season yet!

Were aiming for a roster of 15 contestants. If season 14's whopping 22 people in the starting line-up is any indication, we might have to make some cuts. With that being said I'm more leaning towards casting new players over veterans this time around. I definitely want maybe 3-4 vets to act as "anchors" for the individual teams, but in terms of casting I'm aiming to get as many new people who are ready to dive into a fun summer of competitive Imagineering. I imagine @spacemt354 will be able to help in that regard.

So join us, shall you? As we embark on the most entertaining and fun season of the game yet... So, You Want to be an Imagineer Season 15: Uniting Universal Sign Ups: Thursday, June 1st
Start Date: Friday, June 9th

Chili's

Definitely an interesting concept. I dont know if you saw the question on the other thread i had but ill re-phrase it here.

Basically I'm wondering for old folks like myself on here who has seen a lot of different prompts, Universal prompts tend to skew IP. We've had Nintendo, Nickelodeon, Jurassic Park, Universal Monsters, you name it...and I'm curious how much overlap from past comps there might be considering some of the headliners mentioned above.

I don't know if there is a set prompt lineup in place, but as long as you're going all Universal, you could also branch out to water parks, hotels, City Walk restaurants, transportation, and other non-IP things that we have rarely explored in competitions. If it helps, when i get home I can make a list of some of the Uni projects that have been done before in comps so this can be totally unique!

In addition...I wish BDF would join the forum especially if he is going to be a co-host. We're friendly! We dont bite haha. And aside from a handful of people who follow the podcasts I doubt anyone knows who he is, so it might help in terms of marketing as well.

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Definitely an interesting concept. I dont know if you saw the question on the other thread i had but ill re-phrase it here.

Basically I'm wondering for old folks like myself on here who has seen a lot of different prompts, Universal prompts tend to skew IP. We've had Nintendo, Nickelodeon, Jurassic Park, Universal Monsters, you name it...and I'm curious how much overlap from past comps there might be considering some of the headliners mentioned above.

I don't know if there is a set prompt lineup in place, but as long as you're going all Universal, you could also branch out to water parks, hotels, City Walk restaurants, transportation, and other non-IP things that we have rarely explored in competitions. If it helps, when i get home I can make a list of some of the Uni projects that have been done before in comps so this can be totally unique!

In addition...I wish BDF would join the forum especially if he is going to be a co-host. We're friendly! We dont bite haha. And aside from a handful of people who follow the podcasts I doubt anyone knows who he is, so it might help in terms of marketing as well.

We'll certainly be using a few familiar IPs such as Universal Monsters, Back to the Future etc. but for every familiar IP we'll be switching up the actual assignment to make it unique and unlike other prompts seen before. What were doing with the Universal Monsters in particular might be one of my all time FAVORITE prompts we've ever come up with! As you said we also plan on branching out into resorts, CityWalk etc. The prompts while not directly connected to each other League of Dreamers style will still come with the unified goal of, as the title suggests..."Uniting Universal" and bringing the parks back to their glory days. There will also be some "alternate history" focus in the case of Universal Studios Hollywood since that type of stuff went over really well in Season Fourteen.

As far as BDF joining the forum goes...I wish he would to. He's a very private guy and is fairly set in his ways. He doesn't do any kind of social media, which includes forums. I'll try to change his mind, but I wouldn't hold my breath. If anything I'll have him write out written reviews that I can then share with you all in addition to the podcasts.

Chili's

We'll certainly be using a few familiar IPs such as Universal Monsters, Back to the Future etc. but for every familiar IP we'll be switching up the actual assignment to make it unique and unlike other prompts seen before. What were doing with the Universal Monsters in particular might be one of my all time FAVORITE prompts we've ever come up with! As you said we also plan on branching out into resorts, CityWalk etc. The prompts while not directly connected to each other League of Dreamers style will still come with the unified goal of, as the title suggests..."Uniting Universal" and bringing the parks back to their glory days. There will also be some "alternate history" focus in the case of Universal Studios Hollywood since that type of stuff went over really well in Season Fourteen.

As far as BDF joining the forum goes...I wish he would to. He's a very private guy and is fairly set in his ways. He doesn't do any kind of social media, which includes forums. I'll try to change his mind, but I wouldn't hold my breath. If anything I'll have him write out written reviews that I can then share with you all in addition to the podcasts.

I also saw that you're gearing more towards new people so that might make more sense why some of the IPs will be recycled. For me though, once I do Jurassic Park for example, I've done it It'd be hard for me to not reuse some old concepts and also avoid it be a book report. But either way -- it will be interesting dynamic going all-Universal on a Disney fan site haha. Not sure I will commit to it right now, but I will continue to follow along. If you need help with anything, just let me know!

Also in regards to BDF - I was more thinking in terms of following along with the brainstorming and answering player questions. If teamwork is still a part of the scores, and he's only viewing the final products on the podcasts, that could be a tough category for him to judge.

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I also saw that you're gearing more towards new people so that might make more sense why some of the IPs will be recycled. For me though, once I do Jurassic Park for example, I've done it It'd be hard for me to not reuse some old concepts and also avoid it be a book report. But either way -- it will be interesting dynamic going all-Universal on a Disney fan site haha. Not sure I will commit to it right now, but I will continue to follow along. If you need help with anything, just let me know!

Also in regards to BDF - I was more thinking in terms of following along with the brainstorming and answering player questions. If teamwork is still a part of the scores, and he's only viewing the final products on the podcasts, that could be a tough category for him to judge.

Yea, you're absolutely right that since this season is geared towards newer people on the boards I'm aiming to make the IPs as accessible as possible. I hear you on Jurassic Park and that's actually one of the attractions currently on the roster I need to rework with Dragon since we just did a big Jurassic World project in season 13. I can assure you though any familiar IP you work on will have an entirely DIFFERENT prompt and goal to accomplish with it. Were leaning on things like special events, outside-the-box technology, and "Alternate History" to really make these projects feel as fresh and unique as possible. I know you have a way better grasp on who's who in the community than I do currently from all the work you've been doing with Club 32...so if you could act as a kind of "Casting Director" and help me tag some people who might be particularly interested and fit for this particular season, that'd be a big help.

As for Dragon, he will definitely be lurking and reading the threads, he just doesn't want to make an account and actively post. Sorry for the confusion and hope that's a decent compromise for the whole thing. He can be a strange man.

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Oh gosh...I'm excited for this, but Universal hasn't really been of much interest to me. Whenever I went to Florida in my youth, Disney was the main priority, and we only visited Universal a select few times. I don't know much about Universal's parks, and I fear that will be of a great hindrance to me should I sign-up. I'll be thinking about it, though.

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Oh gosh...I'm excited for this, but Universal hasn't really been of much interest to me. Whenever I went to Florida in my youth, Disney was the main priority, and we only visited Universal a select few times. I don't know much about Universal's parks, and I fear that will be of a great hindrance to me should I sign-up. I'll be thinking about it, though.

I'll admit, the Universal theme has been a concern. I'm going to try to rework the season to not just exclusively focus on Universal. As promising of a theme as I think that would be I definitely think a majority of people on here have similar reservations about it. I'll have a formal announcement soon.

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You know Shrek 4D in Hollywood is closing forever on Aug 13th; which let's face it, won't make much difference to the park. There's also some rumors going around that the show will be replaced by Kung Fu Panda.

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You don't have to be an artist, as all the projects are team efforts. Essentially every project you are in a team brainstorming a prompt just like you would in a regular open brainstorming thread. The judges will score each of the team's projects on a fixed scale and the person who contributed the least to the loosing project will be eliminated.

Chili's

In regards to Season 15, as the unofficial 'casting director' I was talking with some folks around here about the competition, and listening to some of the feedback before it begins. While an all-Universal competition is definitely exciting, a lot of people agreed that it might be tough to handle for the majority of competitors who know more about Disney than Universal. Moreover, the quick turnaround from Season 14 means that many of the SYWTBAI regulars are taking a break from competition play after the long season.

Rather than try to implement the season around those roadblocks, it's come to the agreement between Tiki and BlueDragonFive to *tweak* the concept a bit into an 'open-brainstorming' thread. But not just any open brainstorming thread.

However, this is an opportunity to change that, and with the help of an idea raised in Club 32, I think this could be a really fun summer activity. @kmbmw777 had mentioned the idea of creating a 'rival' Universal park to the Sydney Disneyland park that we were building. This activity will essentially be doing that.

In 'Park Builders Unite' you'd be designing a Universal theme park from scratch, with the challenge prompts intended for Season 15, acting as 'icebreaker' topics. And if people are unfamiliar with Universal, Tiki and BlueDragonFive, who have a ton of experience with Universal, will not only be available to contribute ideas to the project, but will also be doing 'recap' podcasts weekly or bi-weekly discussing the project on their YouTube channel.

I think this could be a great alternative to offer something for everyone. The former SYWTBAI players who might be too busy/tired for a competition, could have the opportunity to stop by and offer suggestions/ideas at their own pace. New members would be welcome in a non-competitive/elimination environment. And help/advice/tips for Universal IPs will be readily available for anyone concerned about it being a hindrance due to their lack of Universal experience.

Tiki and BlueDragonFive will have more info later on -- but since Tiki was at work he just wanted me to get this info out -- and if you have any questions feel free to comment below!

Well-Known Member

In regards to Season 15, as the unofficial 'casting director' I was talking with some folks around here about the competition, and listening to some of the feedback before it begins. While an all-Universal competition is definitely exciting, a lot of people agreed that it might be tough to handle for the majority of competitors who know more about Disney than Universal. Moreover, the quick turnaround from Season 14 means that many of the SYWTBAI regulars are taking a break from competition play after the long season.

Rather than try to implement the season around those roadblocks, it's come to the agreement between Tiki and BlueDragonFive to *tweak* the concept a bit into an 'open-brainstorming' thread. But not just any open brainstorming thread.

However, this is an opportunity to change that, and with the help of an idea raised in Club 32, I think this could be a really fun summer activity. @kmbmw777 had mentioned the idea of creating a 'rival' Universal park to the Sydney Disneyland park that we were building. This activity will essentially be doing that.

In 'Park Builders Unite' you'd be designing a Universal theme park from scratch, with the challenge prompts intended for Season 15, acting as 'icebreaker' topics. And if people are unfamiliar with Universal, Tiki and BlueDragonFive, who have a ton of experience with Universal, will not only be available to contribute ideas to the project, but will also be doing 'recap' podcasts weekly or bi-weekly discussing the project on their YouTube channel.

I think this could be a great alternative to offer something for everyone. The former SYWTBAI players who might be too busy/tired for a competition, could have the opportunity to stop by and offer suggestions/ideas at their own pace. New members would be welcome in a non-competitive/elimination environment. And help/advice/tips for Universal IPs will be readily available for anyone concerned about it being a hindrance due to their lack of Universal experience.

Tiki and BlueDragonFive will have more info later on -- but since Tiki was at work he just wanted me to get this info out -- and if you have any questions feel free to comment below!

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Just one thing to add from Space's post. There will indeed be no eliminations and people will be free to come and go as they please. That being said, there will still be winners to keep with the competitive spirit of SYWTBI. Dragon and I will be keeping track of everyone's contributions and will be announcing Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal winners at the end of the season, as well as highlight some honorable mentions along the way.

Active Member

In regards to Season 15, as the unofficial 'casting director' I was talking with some folks around here about the competition, and listening to some of the feedback before it begins. While an all-Universal competition is definitely exciting, a lot of people agreed that it might be tough to handle for the majority of competitors who know more about Disney than Universal. Moreover, the quick turnaround from Season 14 means that many of the SYWTBAI regulars are taking a break from competition play after the long season.

Rather than try to implement the season around those roadblocks, it's come to the agreement between Tiki and BlueDragonFive to *tweak* the concept a bit into an 'open-brainstorming' thread. But not just any open brainstorming thread.

However, this is an opportunity to change that, and with the help of an idea raised in Club 32, I think this could be a really fun summer activity. @kmbmw777 had mentioned the idea of creating a 'rival' Universal park to the Sydney Disneyland park that we were building. This activity will essentially be doing that.

In 'Park Builders Unite' you'd be designing a Universal theme park from scratch, with the challenge prompts intended for Season 15, acting as 'icebreaker' topics. And if people are unfamiliar with Universal, Tiki and BlueDragonFive, who have a ton of experience with Universal, will not only be available to contribute ideas to the project, but will also be doing 'recap' podcasts weekly or bi-weekly discussing the project on their YouTube channel.

I think this could be a great alternative to offer something for everyone. The former SYWTBAI players who might be too busy/tired for a competition, could have the opportunity to stop by and offer suggestions/ideas at their own pace. New members would be welcome in a non-competitive/elimination environment. And help/advice/tips for Universal IPs will be readily available for anyone concerned about it being a hindrance due to their lack of Universal experience.

Tiki and BlueDragonFive will have more info later on -- but since Tiki was at work he just wanted me to get this info out -- and if you have any questions feel free to comment below!